Joseph Cayre
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Joseph Cayre (born August 1, 1941) is an American businessman and real estate developer who co-founded with his brothers record label Salsoul Records, video tape distributor and producer GoodTimes Entertainment, and video game publisher GT Interactive Software. He is also the founder and principal of the New York-based real estate development firm Midtown Equities.
Salsoul Records
As Salsa music was very popular in New York City owing to its large Puerto Rican population and the fact that their portfolio was mostly Mexican-oriented music, the Cayre brothers started their own Salsa focused record label called Mericana Records. They were able to sign Joe Bataan away from their main competitor, Fania Records; Bataan subsequently released an album called SalSoul (a combination of Salsa and Soul). The record was purchased by CBS Records for $100,000. They took the money and put together the SalSoul Orchestra in Philadelphia (with Earl Young on drums, Ronnie Baker on bass, Norman Harris and Bobby Eli on guitar, Bunny Sigler and Ron Kersey on keyboards, Vincent Montana, Jr. on vibes, and Larry Washington on the congas) and recorded three songs including the SalSoul Hustle which was an immediate hit. Their new label Salsoul Records focused on the dance market at the same time that Disco music was becoming popular. The label produced 8 to 10 records per month in the late 1970s. In 1976, Salsoul released the first commercially available 12-inch single, Double Exposure's Ten Percent. Salsoul Records also manufactured and distributed Gold Mind Records' output. Salsoul was affected by The disco backlash of 1979, but it was one of the few labels to survive after the death of disco. It continued to release new material until 1984 when the Cayre brothers shut down their recorded music operations to concentrate on the home video business.
